Emily Badger in Atlantic Cities summarizes
the key elements of exhibit, from a mid-18th century map of Rome through the visions
of Ebenezer Howard and Le Corbusier that impacted so much of the U.S.
experiment with drivable suburbia to the Mann hockey stick chart that put a
spotlight on the threat of climate change.
John King in
the San Francisco Chronicle takes a different
perspective on the show, looking at the bigger picture of what the exhibits
tell us about how cities emerge and evolve.
King’s article effectively complements Badger’s.
Perhaps it’s
my civil engineering background, but my favorite comment about the exhibit is
when Badger notes that graphics can “seductively
oversimplify the problems of cities.”
Curator Grant concurs that "it can artificially simplify something
that actually needs to be complex."
Exactly. I’ve seen
too many designs that look great in plan view, but don’t result in an enjoyable
experience for real people on the ground.
I once worked in an office where the phrase “it’d look good from a
balloon” was as shorthand for the same point.
For anyone who visits the exhibit, look particularly at the
Le Corbsusier plan and try to visualize actually imposing a real daily life
onto his vision. Had more folks done so
in the 1930s, we might have avoided some serious public housing missteps in the
1950s.
Also, having mentioned the Mann hockey stick chart, I know
that some will focus on that element of the exhibit to the exclusion of all
else. Which is a shame because that
chart is only a small part of the story.
Nonetheless, I’ll acknowledge
that some of the statistical methodologies used by Mann and his collaborators in
1999 have been called into question. But
that doesn’t mean that the general finding has been discredited. Indeed, the charts prepared since 1999 with
the statistical methods rectified show much the same result.
It’s unlikely that my wife and I will find time to visit
the exhibit during our holiday visit to the City next week, but I will go there
in January. The exhibit will run through
February 25. The SPUR offices are at 654 Mission
Street.
As always,
your questions or comments will be appreciated.
Please comment below or email me.
And thanks for reading. - Dave Alden (davealden53@comcast.net)
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